For decades, the Gallatin County town of Ridgway has been called the Popcorn Capital of the World but a dozen years ago that identity took a major hit when Agrilink closed the town's popcorn plant.

Now a Father and Son duo along with a Cubs slugger and a number of his Major League colleagues are putting Ridgway back on the map by producing baseball bats with plenty of "pop".

Just over a decade ago, Randy Drone and son Kyle teamed up to launch Dinger Bats. Kyle Drone used his experience and contacts from working in the Cubs organization while Randy Drone met with Major Leaguers in Spring Training.

The little bat company that could has gone on to land big names like Adam Jones, Hunter Pence, JJ Hardy and Starling Marte. Cubs slugger Kyle Schwarber was sold on Dinger shortly after going pro. Kyle Drone said it didn't take Schwarber long to have success with his Dinger bat.

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Drone says superior customer service for batters and turnaround time has lured and kept MLB players on their roster.

Perhaps the most magical moment for Dinger came when Schwarber hit a home run in the NLDS that landed atop the Cubs massive new outfield video board.

Drone says the moment didn't go unnoticed.

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Dinger doesn't employ as many folks as the old popcorn plant but three people work with Kyle Drone at the bat factory and the company has a full time marketing and business development chief along with a growing number of sales personnel.